


Changement

by spicydepression (lancethelivingmeme)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dance, Angst, Fluff, Healthy Relationships, Multi, ill add as we go ok?, zarkon's a bitch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-26 19:50:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15008129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lancethelivingmeme/pseuds/spicydepression
Summary: Changement: (French) To Change. Also, Ballet: A jump involving the changing of the positions of the feet.Lance was your stereotypical fuckboy who cared a little bit too much to actually fit the description. Lotor was an incredibly smooth and charming person on the outside, but on the inside was barely keeping it together. Both haunted by their own demons and by their own past, see how one fuckboy hip hop dancer and one prim ballet dancer end up discovering not only their passions, but their love for each other, amidst the turmoil of dark secrets, false accusations, and finding the courage to admit they care just a little more than they ever thought they would.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Finally I post again! I hope y'all like this, i'm in it for the long run with this thing. Aiming for 50k my dudes. Hold on. This one is gonna be a wild ride.

A single, dim light lit the room.. The piano and violin playing from the speakers in each corner drowned out the sound of his own breathing, footfalls landing almost silently on the smooth floor. 

Pirouette. Leap. Roll to stand. Run. Another leap. Prep into a fouetté. Three turns- no, four. Finish. Balancé, balancé. Changement. Another changement. Pas de chat. Pas de bourree. Arabesque. Step prep triple pirouette. Ending pose. Finish. As the music faded away the only sound left in the room was the heavy breathing from the lone figure in the center of the room. 

“Again.”

“But-”

“No complaining. Do it again.” A small sigh came from the figure in the middle of the room, but it went unnoticed. 

“Yes, father.”


	2. The First Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first real chapter! You're gonna get a lot from these characters. Trust me. Shit's gonna go down. But for now? Have a somewhat humorous first chapter!

“Lance, come on buddy. Something’s up. You aren’t fooling me, man. What’s wrong?” Hunk asked his friend, who was still sitting in the corner of the couch eating chips in the most depressing way humanly possible.

“Hmm, let’s see. I’m bored out of my mind, my boyfriend just broke up with me, and oh, I don’t know, I guess we can finish this sentence off with the fact that I don’t know what the hell i’m supposed to do now?” Lance said. “Stupid skin destroying chips,” he muttered, still stuffing said skin-ruining chips into his mouth. Hunk looked at him, wondering what he could do to pull his best friend out of the slump he’d been in for the past week.

“Hey, if you’re bored,” Hunk said, getting Lance’s attention. “Since it’s the week before auditions, everyone at the studio is allowed to bring a guest to class. Do you want to come with me tonight?” Hunk asked even though he already knew what the answer would be. However, hunk could see that Lance was starting to think it over. One dance class couldn’t hurt, right? Besides, he needed something to get him out of the slump he’d been in since the breakup.

“Sure, why not?” Lance said. “Who knows, maybe I’ll find someone there that’ll help me get over Keith!” Lance announced to the relatively empty living room as he stood and marched into the kitchen to put the chips away. “When do we leave?” He hollered from the kitchen.

“In about half an hour. Wear something comfortable!” Hunk called out.

“Okay!” Lance called back. This could be good for him. Heck, this might just be the thing for him. He’d always had a secret love for dance anyways. It had been years since he’d actually done any real dancing, thanks to the fear of scrutiny from his friends, but that didn’t change much. He was still relatively in shape thanks to Keith and his military-like need for gym nights once a week. How hard could one class be?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
Incredibly hard. It was too much. Too. Much. That was all Lance could think as he entered the doors to the huge Altea Dance Academy. Lance took a deep breath as he looked around. To his immediate right there was a reception desk, crowded mostly by confused mothers. There was also a staircase leading to an observation deck for the main floor, which was used for both dance performances and gymnastics training. To his left was the snack bar, which Hunk had to, with utmost sorrow, pull him away from almost instantly, and bathrooms. Along with that there were several glass cases housing trophies, awards, and photographs from past years. Just beyond that, four huge dance studios. Dance students milled around in the attire appropriate for their respective classes. Lance looked around in awe and, once the initial curiosity had worn off, even began to attempt to flirt with some of the girls nearby. Tonight he would be joining in two of Hunk’s classes: hip hop and ballet. Hunk said he would be fine in what he was wearing since he was a guest, and while Lance felt fine in his clothes for hip hop, he already felt out of place compared to the ballerinas, with their hair in tight buns clothed in tights, leotards, and either ballet flats or pointe shoes.

“Hunk, if you’d have told me I was doing ballet tonight I wouldn’t have worn sweatpants and a tank top!” Lance whispered to his friend as they walked in and set their bags down in one of the provided cubbies. Lance stuffed his snapback in alongside he and Hunk’s bags.

“Dude, you’ll be fine. Allura’s teaching both classes tonight, so honestly what we wear doesn’t matter. It’s the end of the year. Nobody cares that much after recital,” Hunk replied.

“If you’re sure,” Lance said, more to himself than to Hunk. Not long after they’d set their stuff down, they were called into class. Lance almost took a literal step back when he saw their teacher, Allura, walk into the room, instantly commanding everyone’s attention. She couldn’t have been much older than he was, so he assumed she was maybe 19? She had rich dark skin, and her silvery white hair was pulled into a loose bun on top of her head. As for her outfit, she wore a pink leotard, with a pair of white sweatpants on top, and white and blue tennis shoes. A genuine smile graced her face and her crystal blue eyes were bright as she clapped to get everyone’s attention.

“Alright everyone!” She called to the class, which consisted of Hunk, Lance, their friend Pidge (who had ran in moments before class began still stuffing a granola bar in her mouth), and a few others Lance didn’t recognize. “As you all know, auditions begin in two days. Because of this, we’ve opened up this final week of classes to the public to promote the studio to the next group of possible dancers for the Altea Dance Academy recreational and elite teams. It appears we have one guest tonight. Hunk, would you like to introduce your friend to the class?” Allura asked, her voice tinged with a British accent, and Hunk nodded.

“Everyone, this is Lance. Lance, this is Pidge, as you know, Shiro, Nyma, Romelle, and Coran. Shiro and Coran also teach here, but they join in for classes for fun sometimes,” Hunk said, adding the last part under his breath. Lance looked around at the group. Shiro was relatively tall, with a tuft of white hair hanging over his forehead while the rest was short cut and black. His smile was soft, but lance couldn’t help but eye his missing right arm. His attention was quickly pulled aside as he saw Nyma and Romelle, who were both blondes,and who lance had a hard time taking his eyes off of. Coran appeared older than the rest of the group, with hair that was a fiery shade of orange and a poofy mustache. “Alright, your turn. Say somethin!” Hunk told him, snapping Lance back to attention.

“Uh, hey everyone,” Lance said, trying not to sound ungodly awkward as he spoke. “I’m Lance. I’m 18 and yeah, I’m excited to try this thing out,” He said, while throwing a wink at Allura, who definitely rolled her eyes at him, but it was good natured.

“We’re happy you’re joining us tonight, Lance. Alright everyone, let’s begin!” Allura said. As class progressed, Lance realized this was something he was actually somewhat decent at. Hip hop made good use of every part of his body, and while it required strength, he had enough to get him by fairly well. Towards the end of class he even attempted a baby freeze, which he did successfully for about three seconds before crashing unceremoniously onto the floor. The laughter that followed was lighthearted. It was with that laughter that Lance realized he might actually be enjoying this a lot more than he originally thought he would.

“That… was actually fun?” Lance said to Hunk as Allura let the group out for a break before ballet began.

“Dude, I knew you’d like it. You know what?” Hunk said, pausing to take a sip of his water. “You should totally audition this weekend!” Hunk said. Lance almost spit out his own drink at that.

“What? No. No way. I couldn’t… besides i’m nowhere near good enough!”

“I’d have to disagree with that,” A voice interjected behind them. The two boys turned around to see Allura leaning on the wall behind them. “Lance, you have incredible potential. After watching you in class today, I thought you were a seasoned dancer. I’ll tell you now, if you were to audition this weekend, you would most likely make it onto the elite team, and if not then certainly the recreational team,” Allura said. Lance just stood there with an expression of half shock and half disbelief on his face. Allura chuckled. “Think about it. Now, ballet starts in five minutes, so get ready boys,” She told them as she walked away. Lance, who had finally stopped gaping, turned to Hunk.

“Do you really think she meant it?” Lance asked.

“Of course she did, man! Allura doesn’t just say stuff like that. Besides, having you on the elite team would be a blast!” Hunk exclaimed excitedly. As they walked to the ballet room, they passed the audition sign up. “Come on, Lance. This is something you’re really good at.” Hunk encouraged. Lance stared at the sheet, pondering the possibility of being one a dance team.

“Okay. Yeah, i’ll audition,” He finally caved, picking up one of the provided pens and signing his name on the next available line. Hunk smiled at him as they walked to ballet. Entering the room, Lance could already tell this class wasn’t going to be anything like hip hop was in many different ways, from the way he’d have to move all the way down to just the way he stood. Everyone from the previous class appeared to be there, aside from Coran. He followed the lead of Hunk, and stood behind him at the ballet bar on the wall.

“Sup fuckers,” A voice spoke from behind him. Hunk and Lance turned to see Pidge leaning on the ballet bar, smirking at the two of them.

“Oh, hey gremlin,” Lance murmured with a smirk. Pidge stuck her tongue out, smirking back when he held a hand to his heart in mock offense.

“Gee Lance, you sure you’re ready for this class? Ballet is nothing like hip hop. You can’t just twerk half the time and get by in here,” Pidge explained, adjusting her large glasses.

“I’m sure I’ll manage,” Lance retorted just before Allura entered the room. She had traded her white sweats for white ballet tights, and her tennis shoes were now replaced by pristine pink pointe shoes.

“Alright class. This may be the last class, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t going be be just as serious tonight. Now, the plié combo. Lance, just follow along as best as you can, alright? Hunk and Pidge can help you out if I cannot,” Allura said. Lance nodded, and tried to follow along. The combo was easy enough, and while he was rough on the right side he did much better on the left. When they turned around again to begin tendus, there was suddenly a knock on the studio door. Allura answered it. It was Coran, who began talking in a hushed voice with Allura. Her face went from confused to tense incredibly fast, and she nodded at Coran before turning back to her class.

“Is everything okay?” Shiro asked from the other side of the room.

“I’m afraid I have to step out for the night. My father was just in a minor car accident. He isn’t hurt, but he does need someone to take him home, and I’d like to make sure he is okay for myself. I’m going to go get someone to take over the class for me, have a nice evening everyone,” Allura tensely replied, her voice slightly shaky with a look of masked fear dancing across her face, before leaving the room. Everyone stood awkwardly at the ballet bar, unsure of what to do.

“Hunk, who is gonna take over the class?” Lance asked.

“I’m not sure. I mean, Coran could, but he hasn’t done ballet in a while. Aside from him…” Hunk trailed off and shrugged.

“Hey, Hunk. What if it’s L-” Pidge began, but was cut off by the sound of the door opening again.

Even if he’d been gifted with the ability to see the future, nothing could have prepared Lance for who was going to walk through that door.

“Good evening, everyone,” A deep voice purred, tinged with the same accent as Allura’s. “In light of recent events, I will be finishing off this class for the night,” He explained. Lance barely heard what he was saying due to him being too distracted by this god of a man that had just walked in. He was tall, but also couldn’t have been much older than Lance, if not the same age. He wore a long sleeved black leotard, and deep purple leggings. Black pointe shoes covered his feet. He had piercing deep blue eyes, slightly tanned skin, and snow white hair pulled into a tight bun. One singular piece refused to go with the rest of his hair, though, as it floated in front of his face, occasionally brushing his nose as he talked. “For those of you who do not already know me,” He spoke again, this time making eye contact with a now very frozen Lance.

“My name is Lotor.”


	3. The Audition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dance in this chapter is to Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moom

  
To put it bluntly, ballet class was a bitch. At least, that was Lance’s opinion on the subject. Every part of his body ached, and while it had been remotely enjoyable, he still didn’t know how he felt about repeating that class again. He did find it enjoyable enough that he wasn’t planning on backing out of the auditions the next day, that was for sure. Yes, his body ached all over, but it was worth the pain to be able to dance without the fear of scrutiny for a while. Yet soon enough, his thoughts drifted once again.

“My name is Lotor.”

The words of the substitute ballet instructor had been ringing through his head since he’d gotten home, showered, and gone to bed. Lance knew he needed sleep. The first part of auditions were tomorrow and he needed to be on his game. Still though, Lance was nervous, and having the voice of the mysterious substitute stuck in his head wasn’t helping him out. Lotor, their sub, was good. Lance wondered how long he’d been dancing. Did he even go to Altea? Was he a friend or relative of Allura’s? He had so many questions. To ease his mind, Lance just assumed it was one of Allura’s siblings and tried to push him to the back of his mind. Ugh, Auditions. Lance was a good dancer, sure, but he had one major problem. When nervous, his memory completely stopped functioning. He wouldn’t be able to remember the choreography if he’d seen it on loop for twelve hours. The audition was split into two sections. One evening to learn the dance, then the next morning they showed up to perform it for the panel of judges. The results would be posted later that evening. Lance eventually fell into a restless sleep, hoping he could have even a chance at success at auditions tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hunk, I can’t do this. I can’t! I can do a lot of things man, but this? Nope. Nada. No fucking way,” Lance frantically stuttered out as he paced the dance studio, now filled with about twenty other people. Hunk was on the phone with him, since he was in the lobby and didn’t need to attend auditions since he was already on the elite team.

“Relax, Lance. You’ll be fine!” Hunk reassured.

“Just don’t flirt with anyone and you might be okay!” Lance heard Pidge scream into the phone. She must’ve been sitting with Hunk.

“Real helpful there Pidgeon,” Lance deadpanned.

“I try,” Pidge replied.

“Okay, Allura’s walking over. You got this buddy!” Hunk told him, before saying goodbye and hanging up. Lance set his phone in his bag and took a deep, shaky breath as Allura walked in.

“Good evening everyone! Welcome to auditions for Altea Dance Academy’s recreational and elite teams. Tonight, you’ll be learning a short combo which tomorrow morning you’ll be performing in front of a panel of our staff and highest ranking elite team members. So, let’s warm up and begin!” Allura cheerfully told the dancers waiting to begin. She lead the group through a quick but thorough warm up, before beginning to teach the combo. Lance recognized the song the second she put it on, so if anything he’d at least remember the tempo.

“Alright everyone, I’m going to do it once before teaching you, so pay close attention!” Allura explained to the group. Everyone cleared to the side. She counted off, before beginning to show them the combo. Lance lost track of the movements almost immediately. The first half didn’t seem that hard, it was mostly simple steps body movements, so Lance was good there. However the second part had at least two kicks and a leap, which threw him off. When Allura began teaching it, the combo got easier, but he still couldn’t seem to get it right. His movements were too stiff and choppy, and didn’t flow together. The learning part ended all too soon, and Lance felt more lost than anything. Hunk and Pidge were in a class when he got out of auditions, so he decided to hang around by the cubbies until they got out. He was heading towards the bathroom when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned around, and his sky blue eyes were met with stormy indigo ones.

“Tell me, how badly do you wish to make the elite team?” Lotor asked, leaning on the wall next to the bathroom door. His hair was once again in its pristine bun, with one piece hanging down. The look on his face was neutral, as if waiting to change to react adequately to Lance’s response.

“Well, pretty badly, I guess? I’d really like to make it if I can, you know?” Lance replied. Lotor hummed in response.

“Well, if you think you’re going to make it with just what you did today, you’re wrong. But that does not mean you have no chance at all,” Lotor somewhat cryptically told him.

“What are you getting at?” Lance asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“It’s just past five o’clock now. Get something healthy to eat, and be back here at seven thirty sharp. I will go over the combo with you until you can do it in your sleep,” The look of shock on Lance’s face prompted him to add more to his statement. “While your ballet may be in severe need of improvement, you have potential, Lance. I don’t wish to see it go to waste, that’s all,” Lotor insisted. “So, will I see you then?” He asked.

“Yeah. Totally. I’ll see you then,” Lance replied. Lotor gave a small smile and a nod, before walking off, head held high. Lance disappeared into the bathroom, and once he was alone in a stall, he leaned on the door, steadying himself and wondering what exactly he’d gotten himself into.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Hunk and Pidge had finished their class, Lance suggested they grab a bite to eat together. They stopped by their favorite place to eat to grab burgers, before each of them headed home. Lance stopped by his place to grab a fresh water bottle and to freshen up. Once he was done, he headed back to Altea Dance Academy. When he got back, the parking lot was mostly empty, and it was seven fifteen. By seven twenty five, the lot was empty save his car and one other. That must be Lotor’s, Lance thought. He grabbed his water and headed inside. Most of the lights were off in the building, except for the lights in the second studio. Walking up to the room, he looked through the window to see Lotor warming up. He didn’t get long to stare, though, as Lotor quickly looked up at him and walked over to the door.

“I was beginning to think you were not going to show up,” He teased.

“Me? No way. I’ve gotta get this number down,” Lance replied as he walked into the studio. Lotor walked over to the sound system, pulling his phone out of a pocket in his leggings and plugging it in.

“Remind me of the audition song this year?” Lotor asked over his shoulder. “Oh, and start warming up. You may have been dancing not long ago, but your body has had more than enough time to get stiff.”

“Alright,” Lance replied. “Oh, and the song is Shut Up and Dance.”

At that, Lotor froze. It was just for a moment, but in that moment it was as if he’d turned to stone. A slight shake of his head shook him out of it. “Right,” Lotor finally mumbled before pulling up the song. Lance, who had finished with his brief warm up at this point, stood in the middle of the room as Lotor turned to face him. “Now, I want you to show me what you remember of the combo. If you do not remember any of it now, you have no chance of remembering the whole thing tomorrow.”

“I’m pretty sure I remember at least like, half of it,” Lance huffed in response.

Lotor chuckled as he turned the music on. “We’ll see about that.” Lotor watched closely as the music approached the point where the combo began. Unconsciously, he snapped along to the beat, counting the music under his breath. When the music finally hit the point where the combo began, Lance started to dance. The first portion, which began with four steps before a small jump, were done fairly well. Lotor visibly cringed at the sloppy pas de bourree that followed. The jump afterwards was somewhat clean, but Lance tripped over his own two feet on the turn after that. The next set of moves, a head roll and pose, were executed somewhat decently. However after the pivot turn that followed, everything began to go horribly wrong. Lance’s prep for his double pirouette was completely off, and thus so was the turn. He turned around and nearly fell out of the battement, and managed to semi-successfully perform the chaîné turn before proceeding to literally slip to the floor during the fan kick. He missed the leap completely. Breathing heavily, Lance looked up at Lotor.

“So, how was it?” Lance asked, somewhat skeptically. Lotor, who was holding his head in one of his hands, took a deep breath before reaching over and cutting off the music.

“The only good thing I have to say about that performance is that you appear to have somewhat decent natural rhythm. Aside from that, you have a rudimentary knowledge of the moves, and do not know how to execute some of them correctly at all. You were too stiff, and your movements too choppy,” Lotor declared. Lance deflated a little. He thought he hadn’t done that terribly, aside from the end.

“And that means exactly… what?” Lance asked, standing up from his position on the floor.

“That means we have a lot of work to do. Now, I am going to show you how it is supposed to be done once. Just once, so pay attention,” Lotor emphasized, before backing up the music. “After this, I will be going through the routine with you step by step, and after you can do all of the steps individually, we’ll put them back together again,” He explained as he stepped to the middle of the floor. Lance leaned on the mirrored wall in front of him. Lotor counted off the beats, before he began. Lance was instantly mesmerized. It was the same choreography he’d learned, yet somehow different. It also was mildly shocking to Lance to see Lotor dancing like this. When he’d danced in ballet the other night, Lotor was incredibly stiff and polished in his movements. Now however, each of the moves were blended together, truly making it a dance as opposed to a series of movements. He finished off the number with the leap Lance had missed, taking a few steps out of it to slow down his momentum. Lance watched this all in awe. Lotor turned to face him, barely even out of breath.

“That was…” Lance began, trailing off as he searched for the right word. Lotor looked at him, waiting for him to finish his statement. He motioned with his hand, encouraging Lance to find the word to finish his statement. “Uh, cool. That was cool, I guess,” Lance finished, deciding that this dancer, no matter how good, didn’t need his ego fed by Lance’s compliments.

“Well then, let’s take it from the top, step by step, shall we?” Lotor asked. Lance walked to the center to join him, and they began.

Lotor lead him through each and every move, step by step, until he had it down. It took an hour just to get half the short combo down, and while Lance technically knew it halfway through, Lotor wasn’t letting him get away with just being ‘not bad’ at this point. It was nine thirty at night before they had worked their way through the full combo, every agonizing detail meticulously poured over and every move repeated until it was second nature.

“I think… I have it… down now,” Lance huffed out in between heavy breaths. Lotor stood by the sound system, the only evidence that he’d danced at all was in his slightly looser bun.

“Good. You’re going to do it two more times before we leave. Once more with me all the way through, and then once on your own. Alright?” Lotor explained. Lance nodded, and Lotor started the music.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Allura parked her car in the lot of Altea Dance Academy, mildly surprised to see not one but two other cars in the lot. Had Lotor’s deep blue Audi been the only car in the lot she wouldn’t have been surprised, but the bright blue Toyota sitting not far from it was a surprise. She’d gone back to pick up her laptop which she’d left there earlier in the day, but as she walked in that was the last thing on her mind. The studio was still dark for the most part, but she followed the glow coming from one of the studios. The sight she saw when she peeked through the window in the door was one she couldn’t have ever expected to see. Lance, the new boy from earlier, was going over the audition dance. With Lotor. She watched as Lotor started the music, and joined Lance in the center of the room. She heard him count the music, before both of them stepped in perfect sync, beginning the combo. Allura smiled brightly at the sight, for several different reasons. One being she was glad to see she was right about Lance having potential. With a little extra work, he knew the dance like the back of his hand. The other reason was Lotor. It had been at least a year, if not more, since she’d seen him do anything but ballet and occasionally lyrical. He certainly hadn’t done jazz or contemporary since… she snapped out of her thoughts when the music was restarted. It appeared Lance would be doing the routine alone this time. Smiling, she walked through the office to the break room to grab her laptop. As she left the building, she knew two things were certain. The first was that Lance was definitely going to be a part of the Altea elite team. The second? She knew for a fact that if anyone could get Lotor to dance the way he used to, it was going to be this boy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lance woke with a groan, rolling to hit snooze on his alarm. He really should have gotten up earlier, since he had to be at the second part of auditions in less than an hour, but reviewing the routine with Lotor had completely drained him last night. Grumbling the whole time, he slowly got up to eat, freshen up, and get dressed. Today, he’d decided on wearing a blue tank top, like usual, but he wore black leggings instead of sweats this time. Grabbing his bag and his water, he got in his car and headed for Altea Dance Academy.

When he arrived, the rest of the auditionees were heading into the studio, so he hurried to set his bags down and get into the room with them. Joining everyone in a quick warm up, the room was relatively silent as Lance and the rest of the group prepared for the audition. The few whispers in the room died down to nothing when the door opened. In walked Allura, Coran, Shiro, and three people Lance didn’t recognize, each holding clipboards. They sat down at a table in the front of the room. Once they were all seated, Lance noticed one more empty chair. Before he could wonder who was missing, Allura spoke.

“Good morning everyone, i’d like to introduce our panel of judges. I’m sure most of you know me, Allura, along with Coran and Shiro. Joining me today is one of the greatest ballroom dancers of his generation and my father, Alfor Altea, and also joining me is one of the greatest ballet dancers of his time, Zarkon Galran. Alongside them is miss Axca, one of our top elite team members, and there should be one more team member joining us, but he’s running a little late. Now, Axca will go over the audition procedure,” Allura explained. Axca, a girl with pale skin and dark hair pulled back into an intricate ponytail with a braid on the left side of her head and one piece hanging down by her face, began to explain how auditions would go. They would be split into small groups of seven, and each group would be called up to perform. Each judge would be assigned to a person. Lance was put into the last group, group six. Just as they were about to begin the auditions, the door opened, and Lance’s eyes widened at the sight of a familiar figure.

“Excuse me for running late. Car troubles,” Lotor muttered as he rushed through the door. Today he was wearing a thin sweater, deep purple in color, and black dance leggings. On his feet were black running shoes, and his hair which was usually in a tight bun was now only half pulled back into a small bun, the rest of his white hair tumbling well past his shoulders in soft waves.

“Everyone, this is Lotor Galran, the head member of the elite team and currently one of the top ten ballet dancers in the country. He will also be judging you all today,” Allura told the group. As he sat down, he made eye contact with Lance, giving him a small nod before grabbing his clipboard. “Alright, first group, please step onto the floor. The judge you stand in front of will be the one to judge you. And remember, there is no favoritism in this judging, so even if you happen to know one of us, you’ll be judged as if you are a stranger to us,” Allura explained as she got up to start the music. The first five groups flew by, and Lance watched in amazement at all of them. Soon enough, it was his turn. He stepped onto the floor, not really noticing where he was going, He looked up, and realized which judge he stood in front of. Lotor looked at him carefully, before writing something on his paper. The music began, and Lance prepared for the dance to begin. Right as the music came to the beginning of the eight-count where they would start dancing, Lance noticed Lotor doing something he’d done in their rehearsal. He was snapping the beats before the music came to the point where they started. This gave Lance the last little bit of courage that calmed his nerves, and when Lotor stopped snapping, he started dancing. Lance closed his eyes and let the music wash over him as he danced, letting his mind shut down and his body take over as he did so. Reality came rushing back to him as he landed the final leap, and he opened his eyes to see the judges all politely clapping. Looking over, he saw Lotor had a small smile on his face as he finished writing something on his clipboard.

“Alright dancers, I would like to thank all of you for auditioning today. Results will be posted both online and on the front door before seven o’clock this evening,” Allura told the group before dismissing them. Lance stepped out of the room, breathing a sigh of relief. He’d finished the hard part. Now, came the even harder part. Waiting for results. As Lance was grabbing his bag, the studio door opened and the judges walked out of the room. Lotor was the last one out. Lance was taking a sip from his water bottle when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Lotor standing there, giving Lance the brief feeling of deja vu as he capped his water.

“I just wanted to tell you that you performed well. I wish you luck. And,” Lotor added, lowering his voice. “Even though Allura says there is no favoritism in who gets chosen, there certainly is,” Lotor whispered with a small smile before walking off. Lance remained where he stood for a moment, watching him go, before he turned towards the door to head home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lance sat in front of his laptop, mindlessly refreshing the page, waiting for the audition results to be posted. It was almost seven, so the results should be up at any moment. Finally, after what had to have been half an hour of refreshing the page with no change, the results were posted.

There had been 25 people at auditions. There were six names posted for the elite team list.

The fourth one down was Lance McClain. 


	4. Lotor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age reference: Lotor: 19, Allura, 19 (almost 20), Lance: 18 (almost 19), Hunk: 18, Pidge: 17, Shiro: 25, Keith: 19, The Generals: 19/20, Romelle & Nyma: 18
> 
> Will add on as necessary

Lotor woke suddenly, sitting up and rapidly looking around his room. Deep grey walls and an equally grey sky stared back at him. He ran a hand through his tangled mass of white curls as his breathing slowly returned to normal. Rubbing the last bit of sleep from his eyes, he tossed aside the tangled mess of sheets and stood, stifling a yawn behind a hand as he walked to his bathroom. He flicked on the light and looked at himself in the mirror. To put it plainly, he was a mess. Hair falling in untamed curls down to his mid back, bags under his eyes, and deep purple bruises covering the lower right side of his chest. Along with that, the pain of a headache was forming at the base of his skull and his temples. A sigh and the sound of footsteps leaving the room were the only thing that could be heard, the thick glass of the windows blocking out the sound of the steady rain outside. As Lotor walked down the stairs to his kitchen, he allowed his mind to wander. After a week off, it was finally time to start the new dance season. Lotor was ready to see just what the new team members were capable of after seeing them in auditions. He’d tried to rush out of the building afterwards, but he didn’t make it out the door before his father stopped him. Lotor had turned around, face void of any emotion, and stared at his father’s cold eyes. He thought back to their conversation as he waited for a pot of coffee to brew.

“Father,” He’d muttered. “Is there something you need?”

“You know very well why I’m here, Lotor,” His father replied. Cryptic as usual, but Lotor was used to it. He just hadn’t been in the mood for putting up with it that morning.

“Of course I know,” Lotor spat back, eyes hardening. “You’re here to make sure I don’t do anything that you wouldn’t approve of, even though I’ve been a legal adult for almost two years now and am perfectly capable of making my own choices,” He snapped, turning away. A firm hand caught his elbow, forcing him to turn around.

“Watch how you speak to me, young man,” His father warned, his grip on Lotor’s arm tightening briefly before he let go. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you this season. We wouldn’t like a repeat of two years ago now would we?” His father asked coldly. “Oh, and who was that boy you spoke with after the audition? His dance style in the routine seemed… familiar.” Lotor tensed up, unable to move as his father walked away. He stood by the stairs near the door, completely frozen, until a gentle voice behind him startled him back to reality.

“Lotor?” Allura asked gently. “You froze up, is something wrong?”

“Just the usual ever-present issue,” Lotor had told her with a humorless chuckle.

“When does he leave town?” Allura asked.

“The day before the new season starts. At least he’s in a hotel this time, instead of just barging into my house like he did last time,” Lotor explained. With a sigh, Allura grabbed his hand.

“Remember, you’re still my friend. If you need anything-”

“I know, Allura,” Lotor cut her off with a small but grateful smile. “Thank you. I still don’t know how you can deal with… all of this. How you do it now and how you did it then.” Allura laughed at that.

“Obviously because i’m a princess and this studio is my kingdom. If anyone comes in here with harmful intentions to any of my subjects, I take care of it,” She stated with a smile. Lotor replied sarcastically.

“Oh yes, how could I possibly have forgotten that, princess,” He dramatically told her, causing them both to laugh. “I really should get going now. I do have routines to begin choreographing, after all.”

“Just one more thing,” Allura added. She waited until Lotor was looking her in the eye to speak. “I saw you going over the routine last night with Lance,” She whispered, and Lotor tensed again.

“You w-”

“Hush,” She cut him off. “I’m happy. I haven’t seen you dance like that in over two years. I think…” She paused to find the right words. “I think having him here might be exactly what you need to be the dancer you used to be,” Allura told him. Lotor sighed.

“Allura, after what happened I still am unsure if I ever want to be that person again.”

“Not the person, Lotor,” She insisted. “The dancer you used to be. Now get choreographing. The season starts next week, and we begin teaching after that!” Allura told him with a smile before heading to help a child who had wandered away from her parents. Lotor walked out of the building, feeling a little bit better than he had before.

Now, as the timer on his coffee dinged signaling it was done brewing, Lotor mulled over the conversation. Thinking about it, Allura was right. When he’d helped out Lance with the audition routine, that had been the first time he’d done anything but ballet in two years. And it had felt amazing. Why he had impulsively agreed to help Lance he still was unsure of. He poured himself a cup of coffee, taking a sip of the bitter dark liquid and looking out the window, the headache from earlier steadily throbbing. He leaned on the marble countertop, only to stand up straight a moment later, hissing in pain. That was when he remembered last night. His father had showed up at his doorstep, let himself in with a spare key. Lotor hadn’t heard the door open over the sound of the music he had been working on a number to. Of course, it had to be a jazz number. He’d barely registered his name being called harshly before a hand grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground, a foot colliding with his ribs a second later. Everything sounded like it was underwater to Lotor. He heard something about being a failure and how this wouldn’t get him anything in life, before the shadow over him had disappeared. The slamming of his front door was loud enough to clear his head, and once his head cleared the pain set in. He pushed himself upright, leaning on a wall. Doing a quick assessment, he established it was only a bruise, and pushed himself to a standing position. With a wince, he walked into his kitchen, grabbing an ice pack and the first drink he could get out of the fridge. Looking around the kitchen this morning, Lotor also discovered why he had a headache. Next to the sink was a half empty bottle of vodka. Shuffling around the kitchen until he found the right cabinet, he grabbed a bottle of Advil and downed two of the small pills with the rest of his coffee, and dropped the pill bottle into his dance bag on the way back upstairs. Once he was back in his room, he grabbed a clean long sleeved leotard and tossed it on his bed. His favorite leggings were still in the wash, so he grabbed a dark grey pair for today and tossed them next to his leotard. He stepped out of his pajama pants and pulled on his leotard and leggings, before walking into the bathroom, sticking a toothbrush in his mouth as he looked around for something. He normally wouldn’t use any, but today he put on a small amount of concealer over the bags under his eyes. Grabbing a brush, the next ten minutes were spent trying to tame his hair and pull it into a slick bun. Of course, his cowlick prevented one section from going back with the rest, forever falling in front of his face as he didn’t care to pin it back. Once he was done, he left the bathroom. Stepping into a pair of navy blue boots by the top to the stairs, he headed down, grabbing his team jacket from last year and pulling it on, zipping it up to his chin, before grabbing his dance bag and his pointe shoes off of their hook on the wall. He grabbed his keys from a small dish by the door, and headed outside. He got in his car quickly and started it up, waiting for it to turn on so he could filck the wipers on and clear the rain from his windshield. As soon as he could see out the window, he backed out, and headed for the studio.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lotor made it to the studio just after Allura. When she saw him, she smiled.

“You ready for the first day?” She asked, flicking on the lights in the studios.

“Quite. My routines are done for the most part, and if I recall i’m teaching the ballet classes instead of participating this year, correct?” He asked as he sat down in one of the chairs outside the studio, pulling on his black pre-pointes and lacing them up tightly before standing again.

“Yes. But, because of that I have done something else to your schedule as well,” Allura added, her voice hesitant.

“And what might that be?”

“I’ve put you back in aerial arts, lyrical, and jazz,” Allura told him, and he froze. He turned to face her as he spoke.

“What were you thinking? If he comes in here and sees that-”

“It’s not about what he sees or what he says!” Allura shouted. “It’s about you. I saw you that night. I remember you two years ago. You dance like nobody else i’ve ever seen. It’s your life, Lotor. You’re an adult. It’s your turn to do what you love,” Allura finished. Lotor sighed after a moment. The door opened behind them, signaling that students had begun to arrive for classes.

“Fine,” Lotor whispered to her. “But if anything goes wrong, i’m blaming it on you.”

“Deal,” She told him. “Oh, and don’t forget to mention the sub teams. We have one spot open on the Paladins and one spot open on the Generals, so we need those filled before rehearsals begin on Friday.”

“Right.” Lotor looked at the dancers filing through the doors. His eyes landed on Lance as he walked in. Maybe, just maybe, Allura was right.

This was the opportunity Lotor needed to get back the spark he’d lost two years ago. Maybe, his was what he needed.

And maybe, just maybe, Lance was exactly what Lotor needed to get that spark back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What happened two years ago that keeps getting mentioned? You'll just have to wait and see!  
> Comments and votes/kudos always appreciated!


End file.
